Manchester City completed their latest pre-season friendly match last night with a meeting against Barcelona.
After losing to Celtic and AC Milan in their two previous games in America, City took on Pep Guardiola’s old side in Orlando.
With the 90 minutes ending with a 2-2 draw, the Blues lost the following penalty shootout 4-1.
Prior to the game, it was reported that Kalvin Phillips was training in a centre-back position ahead of last night’s clash.
In fact, this is where he ended up playing in the game and completed the full 90 minutes.
Once the game had ended, many City supporters took to social media to share their thoughts on what they saw from Phillips in this new role.
Man City fans amazed by Kalvin Phillips’ centre-back performance against Barcelona
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One fan wrote this on X: “Ngl that Kalvin Phillips CB shift was decent. Probably his best game in the last 2 years.”
Another said, “Well, this right centre-back cameo from Kalvin Phillips has been his best 45 minutes in a City shirt. He has better awareness than I thought he would and the passing is perfect.”
This fan highlighted how at ease the midfielder looked in his new position against Hansi Flick’s side, saying this: “Kalvin Phillips was incredible, comfortably his best game in a City shirt, his long balls were crazy.”
Someone even suggested that a centre-back role could be a regular occurrence for the Englishman moving forward, saying this on the matter: “I genuinely think Kalvin Phillips should consider converting into a CB, he’s got the diagonals from the back, and he is clearly not good enough to continue in midfield needs to just iron on a few defensive basics and it would really suit him.”
However, another fan questioned how regular game time in a defensive role would come about for Phillips at City, adding “Kalvin Phillips played some decent football as a CB. But, who is he gonna replace…”
Phillips showed his versatility against Barcelona
Out of the 31 competitive appearances he’s made for City, Phillips has stayed in his defensive-midfield role, making this venture into the defence a new experience for him in a City shirt.
Having clearly impressed this group of supporters with his performance against Barcelona, coming up against Robert Lewandowski, it could be said that Phillips has the versatility to make himself a more useful player for the Blues.
However, should the 28-year-old find himself leaving the Etihad Stadium before the summer transfer window closes, he has now proved that he can play in numerous positions for whatever club he may end up joining.
